Young Advisory Board – connecting people

May 21, 2018

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I knew I was lucky when my turn to write the blog about the Young Advisory Board journey coincided with our workshop last week in Yangon. Myanmar is special to me for several reasons, but mainly because during more than 7 months in 2017 I spent the majority of my time in Asia working on a customer opportunity with a team of truly inspiring, knowledgeable and hardworking Ericsson colleagues, several of whom are based in Myanmar. It is because of the team effort and hard work with these colleagues as well as the other team members working on the opportunity that I won the Top Performance award 2017 which will be in Los Cabos, Mexico during May. I was excited to introduce the Young Advisory team (part of it at least) to my Myanmar family!

Out having Indian lunch in the mall where the Ericsson office in Yangon is located. On the photo starting from left: Bo Zhong, Eric Timmer, Mina Nemati, Pratul Arora, Sadinoel Martinez, Sudipta Ghosh, Amitava Saha, and Nicholas Daltry

Unfortunately, not all the YAB team could make the trip because of work engagements and personal commitments, but as always, we stay connected virtually. On this trip it was myself, Bo, and Sadi. Whilst knowing we would have a tight schedule during our visit in Yangon, we did not predict that we would be spending roughly 14 hours a day in workshops, meetings and conference calls in continuing our work on the second strategic challenge. I think what kept us going was the great amount of progress we were making and the dedicated local team that provided us with valuable input.

What is amazing about Ericsson, is the diversity of each team you interact with. Such as different nationalities, cultures, backgrounds and life experiences. Just like with my friends in Myanmar, who originally are from India, Bangladesh, Holland, New Zeeland, and Sweden, through the Young Advisory Board I get to work closely with colleagues from China, Dominican Republic, Spain and USA. Ericsson takes me to beautiful places in many countries and gives me the opportunity to meet people from all over the globe. This is invaluable and that is why I love my job at Ericsson!

As mentioned in previous blog posts of my fellow Young Advisory Board members we have different nationalities, educations, past experiences etc., and it is interesting to see how each one of us adds value with her/his own strengths and brings a new perspective to our work as a team. As always, despite the long days we always find time to relax, to laugh and to have lots of snacks! As for the snacks part, I wish I could say we all bring snacks from our home countries whenever we get the chance to meet face to face, but the truth is, it is only Bo that brings incredible Chinese sweets…

During my time as a member of the Young Advisory Board I have not only been challenged to go outside of my comfort zone as well as learning a lot outside of my normal day to day work, but I have had the opportunity to work closely with ambitious, talented, and fun colleagues: Adriana, Bo, Sadi, Jacob, and Ryan. I know we will stay friends beyond our Young Advisory Board tenure. But, before our assignment as Global Young Advisory Board ends, we still have a couple of months left to continue the hard work on our second challenge and present our findings and results to our CEO and his executive team. Even after 11 months into our assignment as the Young Advisory Board, I have seen that we have been given a great opportunity to challenge and be innovative. Our journey and challenges continue!

Next on our agenda…

There is not long left before the trip we have been waiting for since June 2017: The Development Week! We are excited about this as it will take many of us for the first time to Japan. I know it will be an interesting experience both professionally and culturally. Stay tuned for the next blog post where we will tell you more about our time in Japan.

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR

Mina is a Group Legal Counsel originally from Sweden but currently based in Dubai, UAE.

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